Putting guide



Jan. 8, 1957 Filed Jan. 9, 1952 A. F. ZADINA 2,776,836

PUTTING GUIDE 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Arthur Frank Zadina INVENTOR.

Jan. 8, 1957 ZADlNA 2,776,836

PUTTING GUIDE Filed Jan. 9, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Arthur Frank Zadina INVENTOR.

BY 24mm col/#009 3m into the cup.

PUTTING GUIDE Arthur Frank Zadina, Long Island City, N. Y.

Application January 9, 1952, Serial No. 265,580

3 Claims. (Cl. 273-192) This invention relates generally to a putting guide, and more particularly to 3. putting guide which may be aimed in order to insure that a golf ball is hit in the desired direction.

The average golf courses have greens which are not perfectly level. but slope slightly in one direction or another. When a player is putting on a green which slopes, it is necessary to aim the golf ball slightly uphill of the cup so that the golf ball will follow a curved path due to the influence of the incline, and where it will go It is quite diflicult for a beginner to estimate the correct amount to allow for the sloping of the green, and it is difficult to determine whether the players judgment of the slope or his putting is at fault when the golf ball misses the cup. Too often a player will blame his inability to see a slight slope in the green on poor putting or he will alibi his poor putting on a slope in the green that does not exist.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a putting guide whereby the golf ball may be driven along a predetermined line of sight with the assurance that any variation in the course of the golf ball is due to the sloping of the green.

Another object of this invention is to provide a putting guide having a carriage for clamping on a putter, whereby the putter may be moved along a predetermined course.

Another object of this invention is to provide a surface which is adjustably mounted on a support, said surface being adapted to guide the movement of the carriage.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sight means for aligning the carriage guiding surface with a desired point.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects of the invention which will later become apparent as the following description proceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodiment of which has been illustrated by way of example only in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a golfer using the putting guide, which is the subject of this invention, during practice on a green of a golf course;

Figure 2 is an enlarged partial transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 22 of Figure 1 and showing the arrangement between the guiding surface and the putter carrier, the leg of the golfer being shown in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of Figure 1 and showing the construction of one of the ground engaging supports, and a sight mounted thereon;

Figure 4 is an enlarged partial vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of Figure 2 and showing the construction of the carriage means for the putter;

Figure 5 is an enlarged partial transverse vertical sectional View taken substantially on the plane indicated by nited States Patent 0 Patented Jan. 8, 1957 the section line 5-5 of Figure 4 and showing the construction of the surface engaging roller carried by the carriage means;

Figure 6 is an enlarged partial vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 66 of Figure 4 and showing the construction of the carriage means and the manner in which a putter is clamped therein; and

Figure 7 is an enlarged partial vertical sectional View taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 77 of Figure 3 and showing the construction of the sight mounted on one of the ground supports.

Reference is now made more specifically to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, and in which the numeral 10 designates the green of a golf course.

The putting guide comprises a guiding surface in the form of an elongated plate 12 adjustably supported in spaced relation from the green 19, and a carrier 14 for a putter 16. The plate 12 may be made of any material including metal, wood, plastic, et cetera.

The plate 12 is supported from the surface of the green 10 by supports 18 and 20 carried at opposite ends thereof. The support 18 includes a ground engaging base 22, a vertical arm 24'extending upwardly therefrom, and a horizontal arm 26 carried by the upper end of the vertical arm 24. Carried by the rear end of the horizontal arm 26 is a second horizontal arm 28 which is normal to the axis of the horizontal arm 26.

The support 20 consists of a ground engaging base 3%) and an upright post 32. Secured to the rear of the plate 12 is an adjustable bracket having two halves 34 and 36. The half 34 of the bracket includes a tubular portion slidably received over the upright post 32 and secured in adjusted relation thereon by a locking screw 38. The half 36 of the bracket includes a plate portion which is secured to the rear of the plate 12 by conventional fasteners 40. The halves 34 and 36 have vertical flanges 42 and 44, respectively, which are pivotally secured to each other by a pivot bolt 46.

Secured to the rear of the plate 12 at the end opposite the support 20 is a second bracket having an attaching plate 48 secured to the rear of the plate 12, and a journal portion 50 with a horizontal bore 52 therethrough. Rotatably and slidably received within the bore 52 is the second horizontal arm 28 of the support 18. The arm 28 is secured in its adjusted position within the bore 52 by a locking screw 54 Due to the vertical and angular adjustable relation between the support Ztl and the plate 12, and the horizontal and angular adjustable relation between the support 18 and the plate 12, it is readily apparent that the plate 12 may be mounted on the surface of the green 10 in horizontal relation thereto with the surface of the plate 12 being parallel to the axis of the shaft of the putter 16.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 7 in particular, it will be seen that the horizontal arm 26 of the support 18 is provided with a sight 56 in order that the plate 12 may be aligned with the cup 58 of the green 10. Through the use of a mirror 60, the sight 56 has a horizontal sight line, and at the same time may be sighted from above. The sight 56 is clamped to the horizontal arm 26 by a U-shaped bracket 62 which is secured to the underside of the sight 56 by a plurality of fasteners 64.

The carrier 14 consists of a split housing 66 which has outwardly extending clamping flanges 68 through which is passed a clamping bolt 70. The split housing 66 has an internal bore lined with a cushioning material such as rubber, the cushioning material 72 engaging the shaft of the putter 16, and resiliently clamping the putter 16 within the split housing 66 upon the tightening of the clamping bolt 70.

The split housing 66 is provided with a pair of dia metrically opposite flanges 74 to which are pivotally secured by pivot pins 76 a pair of support arms 78. The support arms 78 are arcuately bent so that their ends are displaced from a vertical plane passed through the axis of the pivot pins 76. The ends of the support arms 78 are provided with enlarged housings 80 in which are rotatably secured spherical rollers 32. The spherical rollers 82 engage the surface of the plate 12 so that the carrier 14 may be moved along the plate 12 in guided relation.

A pair of links 84 are pivotally connected to the support arms 78 by pivot pins 86. The links 84 are also secured to each other by a pivot pin 88. Secured to the links 84 by a pivot pin 88 is a shouldered member 90 having a guiding pin 92 extending forwardly therefrom. Carried by the rear of the split housing 66 is a tubular element 94 in which is secured one end of a compression spring 96 by a rivet 98. The other end of the compression spring 96 engages over the guiding pin 92 and against the shouldered portion 90.

Referring now to Figure 4 in particular, it will be seen that when the putter 16 is moved longitudinally of the plate 12 to engage the golf ball 100, there may be some tendency to move the shaft of the putter 16 towards the surface of the plate 1.2. Since in the normal swing of a putter by a golfer there is a tendency to move the putter inwardly towards the body of the golfer near the end of the stroke, the carrier 14 has been so designed that the split housing 66 will move rearwardly towards the plate 12 in response to a rearward pressure on the putter 16.

In view of the foregoing, it is readily apparent that when the plate 12 is lined up with the cup 58 by the use of the sight 60, that a golf ball 100 when struck by a putter 16 mounted in the carriage 14 will be driven into the cup 58 unless there is a slope in the green 10 away from the cup. Since the golfer by using this putting guide will be able to determine the amount of correction necessary for the slope of the green, it is readily apparent through continued practice with the device, that the golfer will learn to correctly judge the slope of the green, and be able to apply the right amount of correction.

In view of the foregoing, the operation of this device will be readily understood, and further description would appear to be unnecessary. Minor modifications of the device varying in minor details from the embodiment of the device illustrated and described here, may be resorted to without departure from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A putting device comprising a ground support, a putter, a surface adjustably mounted on said support, carriage means carrying said putter, said carriage means being movable along said surface, said carriage including a shank gripping clamp, a pair of arms secured to said clamp, said arms lying in a plane normal to the axis of said clamp, said arms being pivotally secured to said clamp, means resiliently resisting pivoting of said arms, surface engaging means carried by said arms.

2. A putting device comprising a ground support, a putter, a surface adjustably mounted on said support, carriage means carrying said putter, said carriage means being movable along said surface, said carriage including a shank gripping clamp, a'pair of arcuate arms secured to said clamp, said arms lying in a plane normal to the axis of said clamp, saidarrns being pivotally secured to said clamp, means resiliently resisting pivoting of said arms, rollers mounted adjacent free ends of said arcuate arms for engaging said surface.

3. In a practice device for putting balls along the ground, a carriage guidingly engaged with a generally vertical surface, said carriage comprising a shank gripping clamp, a pair of arms secured to said clamp, said arms lying in a plane normal to the axis of said clamp, said arms being pivotally secured to said clamp, means resiliently resisting pivoting of said arms, surface engaging rollers carried by free ends of said arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,556,062 Baugh Oct. 6, 1925 2,983,920 Perin Dec. 11, 1934 2,084,902 Eisenberg June 22, 1937 2,303,736 Hall Dec. 1, 1942 2,328,408 Beil Aug. 31, 1943 2,458,932 Cottingham Jan. 11, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 26,125 Great Britain 1905 175,197 Great Britain Feb. 16, 1922 

